Last match of the tournament in Ipoh at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, the final of this 29th edition was played between the top two of the table Korea and the host Malaysia.
Both had a long journey until today’s match, Korea won 4 out of the 5 matches they played and drew only 1 getting 13 points in the tournament. On the other hand, the home team had it a little more difficult as they won 3, drew 1 and lost 1, finishing the tournament with 10 points.
It is important to note that in the 2019 edition Korea came out champions and Malaysia got the third place. Both teams know this cup and know the challenges they face playing against great teams from around the world.
The match started off calmly, the home fans kept cheering their team on, shouting at every play, and clapping at every moment.
The first goal of the match came 15 minutes into the match scored by SILVERIUS Shello who with this goal closes 5 goals in the tournament and the most important was today’s goal in the final. With the 1-0 Korea went out to look for the game as they did not want to be left behind on the scoreboard and 1 minute after the first goal JANG Jonghyun, converted the equalizer from a penalty corner to level the score.
With a back-and-forth game, both teams attacked and defended with all players making it difficult to get scoring opportunities, while the goalkeepers also performed excellently throughout the game.
It wasn’t until the 45th minute that ANTHONI Arul’s team felt confident, with their home crowd, on their home pitch and managed to score the second goal after a penalty stroke foul by RAHIM Razie to make it 2-1 to the home side.
Just three minutes after Malaysia’s second goal, MOHD Muhd extended the lead and scored his first goal of the tournament in the final to extend the lead over the Korean team. SHIN Seok Kyo’s side tried to find their spaces to get to the goal, but to no avail, they continued to suffer from the home side’s relentless conversion rate.
With 2 minutes left in the game, the experienced player JEON Byungjin managed to convert a penalty corner goal to make the game 3-2 with very little time left to play.
It was not enough for the Korean team and the championship was won by the home team 3-2.
It is the first time in all the years that Malaysia has won this cup, congratulations to the champions!
The final standings for the 2022 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup are as follows:
1st Malaysia
2nd Korea
3rd Pakistan
4th Japan
5th Egypt
6th South Africa
The top scorer of the tournament was RAHIM Razie with 6 goals.
